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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527009">All of You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl'>captainamergirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Days of Our Lives, Passions (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Drabble Collection, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gwen deserves love, Rafe deserves love too, Romance, What could be, a to z drabbles, slightly AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:02:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen and Rafe: what could be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rafe Hernandez/Gwen Hotchkiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Adore</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>Adore</b>
  </span><br/>
<br/>
<span>She had adored Ethan. She had loved him more than life itself, and what had it ever gotten her, but heartache and a dead baby girl? She'd had a lot of time in prison to think. She realized she had spent years chasing a dream; a fantasy; that didn't come anywhere close to the reality.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>As soon as she got out of prison, she knew she was not going back to Harmony. She desperately needed a fresh start. Closing her eyes, she pressed her finger down on a map and peeled it away to see a little dot called Salem. She would go there. It would be the perfect place to blend in; to start over.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Perfect place? </em>
  <span> She wondered as she sat in her hotel room for the second day and watched the snow falling beyond her windowpane. It was October. Since when did it snow </span>
  <em>anywhere</em>
  <span> in October?</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>She sighed. She needed a break from staring at these same four walls. She bundled up in a thin jacket and walked outside the Salem Inn. The snow had finally stopped falling, and just thick, white powder remained.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>She suddenly had the strongest urge to make a snow angel – something she hadn't done since she was a child and her parents would send her outdoors to get her out of their hair.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>She slowly lowered herself to the ground and spread her arms and legs wide. Just then, she felt, rather than saw someone approaching. She was about to yell at them to </span>
  <em>watch out!</em>
  <span> but there was no time. He, or she, was clearly not paying attention to where they were going. In the very next moment, they had tripped over Gwen's skinny feet and landed right on top of her.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>"Owww!" They both growled out at the same time. Gwen was about to chew the guy out, but one look at his chiseled, perfect features and big brown eyes, and the vitriol died on her tongue.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span>He looked just like …</span><br/>
<br/>
<em>"Luis?"</em>
  <span>  She asked.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Beautiful</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>B – Beautiful</b>
  </span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Luis?” She asked again. “What are you doing in Salem?”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>Rafe narrowed his eyes at her. “My name’s not Luis. It’s Rafe. Rafe Hernandez.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Okay… but you look just like this man I used to know. A man from another lifetime it seems.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Were you two boyfriend and girlfriend or something?”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>The blonde rolled her eyes. “Hardly. He could barely stand me most days I think. But you look so much like him …”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Well I guess it’s true what they say - we all have a lookalike in this world after all,” Rafe said. “Is he at least handsome?”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“He’s … beautiful,” she said and blushed. “Now don’t let that go to your head.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Never,” Rafe said facetiously.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“So… Do you mind getting off of me now?”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>Rafe coughed and rolled off of her. He flopped onto the cold ground beside her and then jumped to his feet. “You never told me your name,” he said.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“You never told me why you were running so fast, not looking where you were going.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“I was chasing a dream. All it is is a dream.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>The blonde pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked at him with a little smirk on her face. “That’s profound.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Yeah I have my … profound moments,” Rafe said. He stared at her and then offered her his hand to pull her up.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“No, thanks,” she said. “I think I’ll just make snow angels for a while.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“You’re not going to tell me your name or why you’re in Salem, are you?”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She shook her head as she spread her arms wide and dropped back into the snow. “Nope. I don’t believe in telling stranger’s personal information.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“I fell on you. We are not strangers anymore.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>“Well when you put it that way …” She smirked and shook her head. “Nope, I think I prefer to keep you guessing.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>He shook his head at her and then turned and walked off. He didn't realize it but he was still smiling.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Careless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter has been heavily edited. I hope it's better than the original one I posted!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Careless</strong> </span>
</p>
<p>"You were careless, Sami," Rafe reprimanded her. "And I saw you with him. <em>Again."</em></p>
<p>"Rafe," Sami pleaded, "please don't be angry! You know how much I love you."</p>
<p>"You don't love me, Sami, or you wouldn't keep playing these stupid games. Just go back to EJ already because I'm done."</p>
<p>He turned on his heel and stomped towards the exit of The Brady Pub.</p>
<p>He shoved open the door and immediately collided with someone.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where -" He broke off as he got a good look at the woman before him. It was the pretty blonde he'd met a few days before; the one who had called him Luis and had an affinity for making angels in newly fallen snow. "Hey, it's you," he said in surprise.</p>
<p>"Have we met before?"<br/> <br/>He smiled in spite of his bad mood. "Don't tell me you have amnesia."</p>
<p>"I am surprised I don't. I mean, considering the way you keep barreling into me."</p>
<p>"I don't know if I'd exactly use the word 'barreling'."</p>
<p>"Do you prefer the term 'assaulting' then?"</p>
<p>"I prefer none of the above."</p>
<p>"I think you're hazardous to my health."</p>
<p>"I'm really sorry. I'll be on my very best behavior the next time we see each other."</p>
<p>"Will there be a next time? That awfully presumptuous."</p>
<p>"Well I figure Salem's a pretty small town so we're bound to run into each other again."</p>
<p>"Good point. I'll remind myself to wear shoulder pads from now on."</p>
<p>"You're a little bit of a smart ass today," he said with a chuckle. He enjoyed their banter. It took his mind off some of his troubles.</p>
<p>"Don't look now, but there's a blonde woman staring at us from inside the restaurant."</p>
<p>"Are you sure that's not just your reflection in the glass?"</p>
<p>"I'm serious. She staring holes into your back. I take it she knows you."</p>
<p>Rafe glanced over his shoulder. Sami sat at booth inside the pub, watching Rafe and his new friend like a hawk. He groaned. "I suppose you could say that. I used to be married to her."</p>
<p>"Oh. So then she was that elusive dream you were chasing the other day when you fell on top of me."</p>
<p>"Yes, but I can honestly say I'm done chasing that dream."</p>
<p>"Famous last words."</p>
<p>"I'm serious. Sami and I are no good for each other. What happened today proved that in spades."</p>
<p>"Oh um... what happened?"</p>
<p>"What didn't happen?" He shoved his hands through his hair. "She keeps telling me that she wants to be with me but her actions prove otherwise."</p>
<p>"Ouch."</p>
<p>"Yeah, tell me about it."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry that happened to you. For whatever it's worth." She stared at some fixed point beyond his shoulder. Her voice was almost a whisper now. "I am sure it hurts -- loving someone so much that it consumes every piece and part of you, but for some reason, they can't reciprocate."</p>
<p>Rafe stared at the blonde. Concern showed on his face. So she'd been hurt before, and he would guess, pretty badly too. Maybe that's why she was so secretive. Rafe still didn't know her name but he decided he wouldn't pressure her for it. Not yet anyway. She was entitled to her privacy.</p>
<p>She turned from his searching gaze. "I should go," she said. "I have a lot of things to do today."</p>
<p>"Okay. Maybe we'll see each other around sometime, huh?"</p>
<p>"Maybe. Like you said, Salem is a small town."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Dad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <span class="u">Dad<br/></span>
  </b>
  <br/>
  <span>Rafe didn't see the attractive snow angel aficionado at all over the course of the next two weeks. He thought she'd skipped town so he was pleasantly surprised when he literally stumbled over her sitting in the park one afternoon.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"It's you again! You know, if we're going to keep meeting like this, I had better get you a helmet and some shin guards. It would be the right thing to do." He offered a silly grin. He thought she might poke fun at his clumsy ways again, but she didn't. She actually seemed not to notice him at all. A fierce storm swirled in the liquid depths of her brown eyes.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Hey there. Is everything okay?" He asked, crouching down beside her.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She wrapped a rumpled Kleenex around and around her pinky finger. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and raspy. "My father passed away."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Oh no. I'm sorry," Rafe said. "What can I do?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"There's nothing anyone can do now," she said, not unkindly. "He's just gone. He was far from a perfect man, but I think a little part of me will miss him."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Is there going to be a funeral service?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Oh, yes, and knowing my mother as I do, I am sure it will be quite the production. She's taken it upon herself to put the whole thing together, even though she and my father had stopped speaking to each other years before." She shrugged. "I suppose there's no one else who could do it."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"What about you?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"I promised myself that I would never plan another funeral." She offered no explanation for her statement. Rafe wondered who else in her life she might have lost. "I wouldn't even go at all if my mother wasn't demanding that I put in an appearance."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"So you're leaving Salem then; for awhile anyway?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"I wish I could stay here forever. I don't trust myself to return home and not get sucked back into my old, familiar patterns. I barely escaped that place the last time."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Something tells me you're different now."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"I wish I could believe that but I made a lot of mistakes."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Everybody makes mistakes. I certainly have."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Well your mistakes likely pale in comparison to the severity of mine."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"I don't know about that. I've had some bad moments." Her expression was still troubled. "Look, no matter what you did or didn't do, the important thing is it seems that you're trying to change. Give yourself a little break."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She stared up at the frosty blue sky. "I don't know why I feel this unsettled. I hadn't seen or heard from my father in years. Why should I be this upset that he's dead?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"He was your family."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"For whatever that's worth." Her shoulders slumped. "I shouldn't mourn for a man who barely tolerated my existence. He wanted a son - someone to follow in his footsteps; someone to carry on his legacy. I tried for years to please him. I twisted myself up in knots trying to be what he needed, and when I finally realized that I never would be, I found someone else to completely devote myself to. Someone who didn't know how to love me either." </span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"I'm sorry," Rafe said quietly. He wanted to help her but he didn't begin to know how.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"It's strange what things you remember at times like these." She looked down at her small white hands, surrendering to a powerful memory. "When I was five years old, I decided to sneak into the drawer of my father's old antique roll top desk. I don't know exactly what I hoping to find that day -- some candy or a little throwaway trinket maybe? Or perhaps, I was merely searching for some kind of clue as to who he really was. He was a puzzle to me; a mystery to be solved, in my young, curious mind. He'd always held me at such a distance that I hardly knew him at all."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She took a deep breath before she continued on. "What I found that day was a lengthy list of boys' names, written in his own hand, and carefully wedged in the back corner of the drawer. For months afterwards, I puzzled over every possible meaning of that list. The thought of it was never far from my mind. And finally, one evening, when my father was away on some business trip or other, I told my mother about my discovery. She wasn't angry that I'd snooped. She wasn't even surprised. She knew someday I would figure out the truth. My dad had picked out all those boys' names the day he learned my mother was expecting."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She sniffled. "Can you imagine his disappointment when he got a daughter instead of the son he had pinned all of his hopes and dreams on? I don't think he ever forgave me for being a girl."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>A potent silence settled between them. Rafe searched his brain for the right thing to say, something that wouldn't sound trite and hollow.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She spoke again before he could. "For all of his faults though, the man helped to give me life. I suppose I do owe him for that."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Who knows. Maybe you'll find some closure while you're there. You get to say goodbye to him, in whatever manner you see fit."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"And if I see fit to spit on his grave?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Then you spit on his grave. Just so you can start to let go of some of that pain. Believe me when I tell you that holding onto that kind of anger takes a lot of energy."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Is that why I feel so tired all the time?" Her tears had dried. "I really should go. I still have to book my flight after all."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"You've got this."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>She bent to pick up her purse. As she tucked the thin pink strap over her arm, she looked up at him.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>"Gwen,"</em>
  <span> she said.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"What?"</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Gwen... That's my name… Gwen Hotchkiss."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>"Gwen."</em>
  <span>  He tried the name out on his tongue.</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>"Goodbye, Rafe."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <span>He sighed. "Goodbye."</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <em>What if he never saw her again?</em>
</p>
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